


Parties, Best Friends & Rugby Shorts

by ohclare



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-10
Updated: 2014-01-10
Packaged: 2018-01-08 04:06:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1128130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohclare/pseuds/ohclare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sansa used to hate going to Robb's rugby matches. And then she discovered just how tight those rugby shorts were.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parties, Best Friends & Rugby Shorts

**Author's Note:**

> this turned out longer than i was expecting when i started it earlier today
> 
> (also turned into it a birthday gift for myself i took so long but it feels nice to write vaguely longer things again)

Sansa used to hate going to Robb's rugby matches. Standing by the side of a cold grassy pitch while a bunch of loud muddy boys ran up and down it with only a rapidly cooling mug of tea to keep her warm was not her idea of fun. The others didn't mind because half the time they had a match themselves and the other half they spent hanging around with their friends. Unfortunately Sansa was the sole member of the Stark family who found no joy in playing rugby which somehow translated into the fact that she had to be the supportive one standing at the side with their mum (who'd admitted that she didn't see the point in the game herself but was always going to be there to support her kids).

And then she discovered just how tight those rugby shorts were.

It wasn't on purpose. She didn't mean to notice it. But once she noticed that fact it was very hard to ignore. (And she was eternally grateful that even covered in mud Robb's hair was still red enough for her to know exactly where he was.)

She didn't realise that both her parents knew exactly why she'd stopped moaning so much about the early Sundays down at the rugby club.

* * *

 

Everyone says that the parties the rugby club throws are the best parties in town, especially since they maintain a strict entrance policy that not even Ned Stark's daughter can get around. It's much worse when Robb's allowed to go and refuses to tell her anything interesting because he knows just how much it'll annoy her. So when Sansa finally hits sixteen nothing is going to stop her attending the next one, not even the fact that Jeyne is still fifteen and the only people she'll know are Robb and his friends.

Sansa can't help but be disappointed when she realises that none of Robb's rugby team wear trousers anywhere as tight fitting as their rugby shorts (although Theon's skinny jeans do come quite close). There's not really time to be disappointed though when half of them are lining up to dance with her, even if she's sure most of them are doing it because she's Robb's little sister.

After that she never misses a rugby club party again, even if she does warn Jeyne about the inevitable disappointment when it comes to bums.

* * *

 

Sansa's not really one for going after guys, she thinks they're gorgeous and she thoroughly enjoys vaguely objectifying them (oh and having some as friends of course) but ever since her very disastrous short lived romance with Joffrey Baratheon when she was fourteen she's not been that keen on having a boyfriend. Which it's all the more surprising when Theon tells her with a grin that most of the rugby playing boys in the sixth form are desperate to go out with her; even if she doesn't quite believe him because they've shown no sign of it beyond dancing with her at parties.

It's when Sansa hears Robb telling Harry Karstark that she's off limits that it all falls into place though. And after she finishes yelling at her brother that he's not her keeper he promises to stop (even if she's not totally sure he took it all in).

She ignores them all still, tells them in her own words that she's not looking for a boyfriend and gradually they all seem to get the picture.

* * *

 

Jeyne starts dating Harry as soon as their exams are over and suddenly Sansa finds herself acting as chaperone every time they go out and 'accidentally' bump into him. She finds that she doesn't mind that much though, not when Harry's best friend Smalljon Umber is almost always there too.

She's never quite understood why he's nicknamed Smalljon when he's ridiculously tall, ridiculously broad and has been able to grow a beard since the age of fourteen; she's sure the name couldn't have even been apt when he was a little kid even if his dad is called Greatjon by pretty much every body. Although at the same time she couldn't ever imagine calling him Jon, that would be too weird somehow.

When Jeyne and Harry break up because he's going away to university and he doesn't want to be tied down and all that other stuff guys say when they don't want a long distance relationship Sansa finds that she's going to miss hanging out with Smalljon.

* * *

 

She stops going to rugby matches that winter. There doesn't seem much point when Robb and most of his team mates are off at university and she can use the excuse that A Levels are so much harder than GCSEs. Arya just says that it's because she can't stare at guys' bums any more and Sansa doesn't bother to argue with her (because after all it's the truth).

* * *

 

She goes to the rugby club Christmas party though, Robb's back from university and in theory it should be just like old times. And it is in a way even if everyone's a little bit different. Smalljon's just the same though and she's surprised to hear him say just how much he's missed her. She dances with him more than she ought to she knows and even the soft kiss on his cheek at the end of the night feels like a mistake.

* * *

 

Sansa dates Brandon Tallhart for a while, just because he's sweet and good looking and plays rugby. She doesn't really mind him but it doesn't take her long to realise that she'd rather be friends than his girlfriend. She wants to kiss someone who makes her heart race and he's not that guy. Jeyne tells her she's being too picky but Sansa wants a prince charming and Brandon is not that guy (plus it's a little weird to date someone with the same name as your brother and your uncle).

She'd rather concentrate on her studies.

* * *

 

She visits Robb a lot, sometimes with her siblings but normally alone. She spends weekends laughing and joking with his friends and learns that she cannot wait for university. Sometimes when she visits he's got rugby matches and she cheers for him at the side and flirts with his team mates just to make him squirm. She even teaches his girlfriends tricks for staying warm by the side of cold muddy pitches and then has to do it all again when he gets a new one.

* * *

 

She sees the old rugby gang during holidays at parties but she avoids Smalljon instinctively, she's got no wish to break her own heart. Instead she laughs and teases the other boys and tells then that she hopes they're not breaking too many hearts. She doesn't miss the days when she was the girl they were all chasing after, she much prefers just being their friend.

* * *

 

Sansa and Jeyne throw a big party at the end of their A Levels (Jeyne's idea of course even if it is held at the Stark's). The idea is that it's going to launch their first big summer of adulthood but it feels a lot more like the beginning of the end. She forces herself not to care though, to drink irresponsibly and to dance like a manic in too high heels.

It's only when she spots Jeyne making out with Theon of all people that she realises it's time to stop drinking. If her best friend is making very questionable life decisions then she knows she's likely to be close behind.

And then Smalljon is there offering her water with that smile of his and she laughs up at him (because even with massive heels on he still towers above her) and promptly runs straight to the bathroom to throw up.

She wakes up in her own bed fully dressed with no memory of how she got there with her only clue a note from Smalljon Umber telling her to drink plenty of water and text him to say she's okay. Sansa blames the fact that she was probably still drunk on the fact that she texts him back in a far more friendly way than she'd been making herself do in the past.

And once they started texting it was hard to stop.

* * *

 

It was a strange relationship the two of them had; not quite dating, not quite 'just friends'. They would walk down the street close enough to hold hands laughing and joking together but never get closer than an accidental brush of skin. They'd talk until late at night but never finish a text with an 'x'. They'd sit next to each other at every opportunity, with legs pressed against the other's, but never rest their heads on each other's shoulders. They'd go out for coffee and tell all the lovely old ladies that no they weren't a couple.

There was something peaceful about this in between state. Sansa was happy there even if she desperately wanted more. She knew now that Smalljon just saw her as Robb's little sister who was fun to hang out with, after all he'd never asked her out, and she had to be happy with that.

* * *

It's a Friday at 9pm when he kisses her. They're heading to a party at the rugby club when they stop at the traffic lights and he just kisses her.

They ignore the beeping of the lights telling them to cross and the ringing of the bells from the church tower and Sansa just pulls him towards her and kisses him back with all her might.

“What took you so long?” she whispers when they finally break apart and he laughs and just kisses her again.

* * *

There's no such thing as an easy long distance relationship but when your boyfriend's university is two hours away on the train and he owns a very nice pair of tight rugby shorts she's willing to make the effort. And he always says that if someone as beautiful and smart as her is willing to go out with him he'll do anything to make her happy.

 And after all what's one year of long distance when you're in love?


End file.
